Flagstaff.



F. D. BRIGHTON.

FLAGSTAFF.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8. I918.

L fimw Pafented Feb. 25, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A TTORIVEV F. D. CRICHTON.

FLAGSTAFF.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8. 1918.

IN l/E/V TOR Jlrarwis A96fiw/1Zim.

A TI'ORIVEVS Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

sn/gm Q6 WITNESSES PAT FRANCIS D. CRICHTON, OF LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.

FLAGSTAFF.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application filed. August 8, 1918. Serial No. 248,903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS D. CRICHTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lynchburg, in the county ofCampbell and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in F lagstafl's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in flag staffs, and has for its object to provide a device of the character specified, having a mounting for the flag which is pivotally connected with the stafl in such manner that it may swing freely about the staif, and wherein the staff is provided with a ball bearing supported roller or drum freely rotatable on the stafi, to prevent wrapping of the flag about the staff.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mounting for the flag which is slidable on the staff, the staff having spring controlled means to hold the mounting at the end of the staff, and wherein mechanism is provided for cooperating with the spring controlled means for releasing the same, and for drawing the mounting longitudinally of the staff.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved stafl' in use,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the staff,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of theouter end of the staff,

Figs. 4, 5 and 7 are sections on the lines H, 5-5 and 77, respectively, of Fig. 2, each view looking in the direction of the arrows adjacent to the line,

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows adjacent to the line.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the improved staff 1 has one end adapted to be held in a socket 2 which is provided with a hinged lug 3 on its underside, received in a block 4 which has laterally extending flanges 5, and is adapted to rest upon a fixed support, as, for instance, a sill of a window casement 6, and it will be secured thereto by means of screws 7 or the like which pass through openings in the flanges into engagement with the sill.

The staff has the usual ball 8 or other ornamental stop at its outer end, and the flag 9 is suitably secured to a small roller 10 which is rotatably connected with the staif.

the roller, or otherwise secured thereto as shown. The rings are loosely mounted on the staff to permit the roller to freely rotate about the staff, and each ring is split, the splits of the ring being in register and dedesigned to give passage to the hinge lug 3 when the mounting of the flag is placed upon or removed from the stafl'.

The mounting for the flag is as before stated, movable longitudinally of the staff, and it is held in operative position, that is, with the flag in displayed position by means of a spring catch 13. This catch is pivoted at 14.- within a slot or recess in the staff, at one end of the catch, the other being normally spring pressed outward by a spring 15 into position such that it will engage the innermost ring 11 to limit the inward movement of the mounting.

A means is provided for drawing the mounting inward, to lower the flag, and for simultaneously releasing the catch. The said means comprises a staff 16 of suitable length, having at one end a laterally extending plate 17. This plate 17 has extending therefrom at the end remote from the stafl 16, a pair of hooks 18 which are adapted to engage the innermost ring of the flag mounting as shown in Fig. 3, and the free end of the plate is adapted to engage the catch as shown to release the same when the hooks are engaged with the rings. Thus the flag may be lowered, that is, drawn inward from a distance, or may be pushed out into operative position from within the window wit out the necessity of bringing in the sta As is known, when flags are flown with the staff in horizontal position there is a tendency of the flag to wrap about the staff, and constant attention is required to insure that the flag will hang straight from the staff. In order to insure that the flag will always hang straight, I provide a roller or drum which is journaled on the staff at a point which will be between the rings 11 when the flag is in displayed position, so arranged that it will rotate freely under the weight staff adjacent to the stop 8 as indicated at 19, and upon this reduced portion 1 mount a sleeve or casing 20.

At each end of the reduced portion there is arranged a ferrule 21 and 22, respectively, the said ferrules extending over the adjacent ends of the sleeve or casing 20, and these ferrules are arranged on reduced portions of the staff, the said portions being of greater diameter however than the reduced portion 19. These rings or ferrules 21 and 22 are connected by rods 23 extending longitudinally of the staff and connected at their centers to a ring 24. Theferrules or sleeves 21 and 22, the rods 23, and the ring 24 constitute the drum and a series of ball bearings is arranged between each ferrule and the reducedportion 19 of the staff, at the annular shoulders formed between the reduced portions for the ferrules and the reduced portion 19. The sleeves or ferrules rotate freely on the ball bearings which are held in place in any suitable or desired manner, and it will be evident that whenever the flag is thrown across the staff, the weight of the flag will rotate the drum or roller permitting the flag to move ofi into normal position. A ferrule 25 is arranged on the staff near the stop 8, and the outermost ring 11 rotates upon the ferrule whenthe flag 1s in displayed position. The ferrule is held in place by a screw 26, and the inner end of the ferrule extends over the ring 22 of the drum.

In use, when it is desired to display the flag, it may be pushed out into displayed position by the staff 16, the end of the staff engaging the mounting for the flag. As soon as the innermost ring of the mounting passes the catch 13, the catch will swing outward, and will engage the ring to hold the mounting with the flag in displayed position.

When it is desired to lower the flag, the hooks 18 are engaged with the innermost ring, notches or recesses 27 being provided in the staff for facilitating such engagement, and the catch is pressed inward by the plate 17. The flag and its mounting may now be pulled inward upon the block 4. The hinged lug 3 is received within a slot or groovein the block, and is pivotally connected to the block by a pin 28, the said pin being removable to permit the detachment of the stafi from the block.

A second pin 29 is provided for locking the staff in extended position, the said pin adapted to engage registering openings in the block and in the hinged lug 3 as shown in Fig. 2. By removing this pin 29, the staff may be swung upward into vertical position. To remove the flag and its mounting from the stafi, the pins 28 and 29 are withdrawn and the mounting is slipped inward over the staff, the hinged lug passing through the splits of the ring 11.

I claim f 1. In combination, a flag staff and a flag,

a mounting for the flag comprising a spar having rings at its ends encircling the staff, a cage roller journaled on the stafi at the outer end thereof to occupy a position between the rings of the spar when the flag is in display position, anda catch in connection with the staff for holding the spar with the flag in display position.

2. In combination, a flag staff and a mounting for the flag freely rotatable about the staff, a spring controlled catch for engaging the mounting to hold the flag in displayed position.

FRANCIS '1). GRIOHTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G." 

